GDHQNHL15_2pg-Boston Bruins 2

Anaheim Ducks Gameday HQ

in the 2011 draft. His increased
confidence has been evident
throughout training camp as his
position on the top defensive
pairing is locked in.
There is a logjam of talented
defenders taking up the rest of
the rotation. Dennis Seidenberg
returns to the team after tearing
both his ACL and MCL in a game
last December. Johnny Boychuk
stepped up big in Seidenberg’s
absence, finishing the season in the
top ten in plus/minus, a feat shared by four other Boston teammates.
Their options for the final defensive pairing are plentiful. Torey Krug
will likely man one of the spots. Scrappy fan-favorite Adam McQuaid
has bounced back from an injury plagued year and looks poised to have
a strong season. But he’ll have to fight off the likes of Kevan Miller, Matt
Bartkowski and David Warsofsky, who will all see ice time this year.
There’s a good chance that one or more of these defenseman will find
themselves in a new sweater come October.
There is little doubt about how strong the forwards will be in their
own end. Led by Bergeron and Krejci, the Bruins have created a culture
where every forward is expected to fight on both ends of the ice.
Goaltending
A big part of the Bruins defensive success over the last decade can
be attributed to their goaltending, and they have one of the best in the
NHL once again. Rask won the Vezina Trophy last season, and it was the
third time in the last six seasons that the trophy was awarded to a Boston
Bruins goalie.
Rask led the league in shutouts (7) for the second consecutive season
and he was second in save percentage (.930) and 4th in goals against
average (2.04). Rask was even better in the playoffs where he lowered
his goals against average to 1.99, the lowest among goalies with more
than five starts.
Last year’s backup, Chad Johnson, signed with the New York
Islanders in the offseason. It’ll be up to Swedish goaltender Niklas
Svedberg, the 2012-13 AHL Most Outstanding Goaltender, to handle the
backup duties. Svedberg has appeared in just on NHL game in his career,
a 3-2 OT win over the Predators in which he made 33 saves.
Power Play
A major goal for the Bruins heading into last season was to improve
their power play. They finished the 2012-13 season ranked 26th in the
league, scoring on just 14.8 percent of their man advantages. That came
on the heels of a dreadful postseason where they scored just two goals in
23 opportunities.
Like most of their offense, things were completely different in 2013-
14. The Bruins raised their power-play percentage to 21.7 percent, which
was good for third in the NHL. They were even better in the playoffs,
converting on 26.5 percent of their chances.
Chara used his massive frame to his advantage by firing pucks from
the point and scoring ten of his 17 goals with the man advantage. The
team also got contributions throughout the lineup. Their 50 power-play
goals came from twelve different players, including seven from Bergeron
and six from Smith.
Penalty Kill
With a team full of quality defenders and two-way forwards, it’s
no surprise that the Bruins were strong on the penalty kill once again.
During the regular
season, they killed off
220 of 263 penalties
and their 83.7 penalty
kill percentage ranked
eighth in the NHL
and almost all of
their penalty killers
return this season.
Chara and
Tuukka Rask
Boychuck are the
team’s first line of
defense along with a rotation of forwards Bergeron, Marchand, Daniel
Paille and Chris Kelly.
Brian Babineau/NHL/Getty Images
The Bruins were even stronger on the penalty kill in the playoff,
which was more impressive considering the number of penalties they
drew and key injuries to Paille and Kelly. They were short handed 71
times in 22 playoff games, 19 more than any other Eastern Conference
team, and they still managed to kill off 88.7 percent of them. A big part of
that was the increased play of Krejci and Justin Florek
“We take a lot of pride in our penalty kill and so far it’s been
working,” said Rask, “It’s a huge thing throughout the season and
especially in the playoffs, you need to have good special teams in order
to move forward.”
Prediction
With a great collection of two-way forwards, one of the best
defenders in the league and the defending Vezina Trophy winner,
the Bruins are the clear-cut favorites in the East. Things should be
a bit more difficult than last season, but it’s up to the rest of the
conference to play catch up.
Scoreboard
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
PLAYOFF FINISH Conf SF Cup Finals Conf QF Stanley Cup Champions Conf SF
REGULAR SEASON 54-19-9 28-14-6 49-29-4 46-25-11 39-3-13
POINT TOTAL 117 62 102 103 91
SHOOTOUT RECORD 3-6 4-3 9-3 2-6 10-9
GOALS SCORED 261 131 269 246 206
GOALS ALLOWED 177 109 202 195 200
POWER-PLAY % 21.7 14.8 17.1 16.2 16.6
PENALTY KILL % 83.7 87.1 83.5 82.6 86.4